Brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. has opened an office in Hamden, the company’s eighth in the country and first in Connecticut, The St. Louis Business Journal reports.
Leading the new office are two long-time Hamden financial professionals and branch managers, Richard Pignone, who is the co-branch manager in charge and vice president – investments, and Kim Hurd, co-branch manager
Benjamin “Tad” Edwards IV, the company’s chairman, chief executive and president, founded the firm two years ago amid the recession. Edwards named the company after his late father, Benjamin Edwards III, former chairman and CEO of A.G. Edwards Inc., which later became Wachovia Securities and is now Wells Fargo Advisors.
Branch development and adding financial consultants continue to be priorities, Edwards said, but he said the expansions are based on talent and a cultural fit, rather than on the number or location of branches.
“We want to build branches in middle market and major metro areas around individuals with integrity, who share our passion for client-first service, and who strive to provide their clients with the superior financial advice they deserve,” Edwards said in a statement. “We’re “We’re not going to add locations just to put a pin on a map.”
